Meet Talia, a LITA South Five Week 2025 student, as she reflects on her host family experience, language growth, and the connections that shaped her summer.
First things first, tell me about yourself. Name, age, where and when did you participate in LITA?
I'm Talia. I'm 15 years old. I participated in LITA in summer of 2025 on the South 5 trip and I'm from New York City.
What made you decide to participate in LITA?
What made me decide to participate in LITA was the Spanish immersion, the overall selling point of the program. I had done a program previously that didn't do [full immersion] and even though I felt like I improved my Spanish, there was so much more that I could do and that is really how you achieve full fluency. So I think if I hadn't done [LITA] now, I wouldn't really have had many chances to do something like that.
What stuck out to you about LITA compared with other programs?
I think first the complete Spanish immersion and also just being able to be in Spain. Because there is a language immersion camp [in the US], but… why do something like that when you could, I assume for a very similar price, go to an actual Spanish speaking country, be immersed in the culture and then still have the language learning experience.
Tell me about your experience with your host family. What were some of the culture shocks that you might have had coming in with your host family, or how was the process of settling in?
Okay, so to start this off, I'm an only child and I don't have a lot of cousins, at least not ones that are in the US. The host family I stayed with was two parents, four children, and three dogs. I had never had that kind of experience before in my life so I think I faced less culture shock and more like an overall lifestyle and like just familial difference kind of shock. But it was really, really fun. Everyone was really close. I got to meet a ton of different family members and friends. And I think even with the initial shock, settling in only took a few days because, especially in this family, I just felt so included. Oh, a particular memory, during the last weekend of the homestay, I went to a wedding of one of the family members' cousins. And I got to see a real Spanish wedding and it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done. Like it started at eight and ended at like five or something in the morning.
How would you describe your Spanish skills before the program, and how would you say they have changed since then?
I've studied Spanish for a pretty long time. My Spanish skills were pretty good. Like I could read, I could write well, but it was all very like ‘I learned in school’ type of Spanish. I didn't really have a wide vocabulary. And even for all my studying, I didn't just talk with people in Spanish. And I think that's what's really changed since this program, is just being able to talk to people and being able to have fluid conversations without having to say things like, ‘can you slow down’ or ‘can you repeat that’ a million times over.
The speaking part of learning a new language is one thing that stops a lot of people from diving into their immersion or makes them the most nervous. Did you at any point deal with any of that? And how did you overcome that?
I think there was a bit of overall fear of that and just like being stuck with not knowing what to say over and over again. But being in a group definitely helps that because even if you're struggling, there's definitely at least one or two other people that are struggling right alongside you. And that does become somewhat of a bonding experience. So I think having other people around you and having at least for me those first few days of getting to know people since I came late was really, really helpful.
Are you still taking Spanish classes or finding ways to practice?
Yeah, I'm still taking Spanish. My school is an IB school. So I'm taking IB Spanish now.
What was a challenge that you ran into during your trip and how did you deal with it?
I think a challenge, this is really like a language thing, was just really realizing that I have a very limited vocabulary in Spanish because there's just stuff that I've never had to say before. And for the parts when I didn't have my phone, I didn't have a dictionary because I hadn't brought one because– I do have one, but it weighs like 10 pounds. So definitely trying to describe things…[I] used gestures. There are ways you could get around it and still not speak English, but it was definitely hard.
Is there an experience or a moment from your LITA summer that stands out to you, like a special moment or activity?
I think definitely going to that wedding was one of my really special moments, but also when we were in, I think it was when we were in a city, we went to this mosque and you just get to sit there and it was like, it was kind of pleasant and cool and windy and you could just see everything around you. And I wish I had a camera at that point because I didn't take any photos, but it was incredibly beautiful.
What surprised you most about the LITA experience?
I think it's all the people that we were able to meet. We went… to someone's olive farm and then we had dinner at their house. And we got to talk with people who do flamenco for a living. And it's just all of these different people that you would probably never meet. And somehow they're all connected to LITA or connected to Jordan. And you just sit there kind of thinking to yourself, how many people can one person know?
How would you say your peers influenced your trip?
I think, well, everyone was really, really nice. Everyone was really fun. So I didn't feel like I had to worry about making friends or feeling any sort of stress. And it really did kind of feel like you could kind of just have fun and enjoy yourself. And if we were learning a new project, it never actually felt like we were back in school doing schoolwork. And I think just overall the group made everything more fun.
What advice would you give to students considering Lita?
I think definitely take some form of notes while you're there because they're like, look, they're little things. If it's words that stand out to you or things you want to remember or– like when I didn't have my phone, if we heard a song on the radio or something that I liked, I didn't get a chance to write it down. There are all these little things that you'll end up like barely remembering. And I think it definitely really helps to start taking notes about it. And then also of course to really dive headfirst into it and forget your fears.
What were some things that you did to help you prepare for the trip beforehand?
I've been doing this for a while, but I've been trying to read Harry Potter translated into Spanish. And especially if you can find Spain-style Spanish, so you can see how their vocabulary works, that really helps. And I have tutoring, and it's just an hour and we'll do activities and stuff, but it's all in Spanish and we'll just talk. And it really helps.
Is there anything else that we haven't touched on that you would like to share either about your experience or things you'd want to say to people who are considering doing LITA?
This wasn't exactly from my personal experience, but if you're picky about food or anything like that, honestly, just for at least for a little while, just try to bend in it. Like you can always say that you don't like something and you can say a reason for it and you shouldn't worry about hurting people's feelings, but there are things that I don't know if I would have liked or I'd tried before and just completely hated it. And then I tried again and now I really like it. I wouldn't have known.
By Mina Kianovsky, Operations Manager
